One of the few points of unbounded bipartisan agreement in
Washington has for decades been that U.S.-Israel security cooperation is
right, good, mutually beneficial and worth every nickel spent on it. It
is well-grounded in facts and acknowledged benefits to both sides.

Today, however, support for Israel is becoming polarized. Even
within the United States military, younger officers--and certainly
cadets and midshipmen in the service academies--have been exposed to one
or more of the following canards:

* That a close relationship with Israel precludes a close
relationship with Arab States. This despite the clear shift in Gulf Arab
States' position not only on Israel as a partner in addressing
Iran, but also Israel as a legitimate state in the region.

* That the United States is defending the State of Israel. This
despite the fact that no American soldier has been dispatched to defend
Israel, and despite the return of more than 75% of America's
security assistance funds through purchases in the United States--plus
the results of Israel's research and development. This percentage
is set to rise.

* That Israel uses American security assistance to oppress hapless
Palestinians. This despite the facts of security assistance above, and
Israel's clear need for border security.

The election of several pro-boycott members of the House of
Representatives, and the retirement of several staunch supporters of
Israel are indications that this misinformation will continue its
malicious spread in Washington.

Where We've Been and Where We Are

The origins of U.S.-Israel security cooperation are in the Cold War
understanding that the United States could not engage all the
adversaries of all its allies and friends around the world.

The first US-Israel Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on military
cooperation was signed in 1981, recognizing "the common bonds of
friendship between the United States and Israel and builds on the mutual
security relationship that exists between the two nations." It was
embraced warily at first --the Americans were unconvinced they would
receive anything of value and the Israelis were concerned about
continued freedom of action.

But, it worked. Israel went from being considered a net security
consumer to net security producer, meaning the United States did not
have to expend resources to defend Israel, and Israel participated in
making the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean regions more secure by
its presence.

Today, the volatility of the Middle is unlikely to be constrained.
The United States, desirous of removing its soldiers from the region
even as it understands the risk attendant to a resurgent Russia and
increasingly desperate Iran, is as much in need of capable allies now as
it ever was.

At the same time, as the Syrian civil war winds down and ISIS is
bereft of its land base and oil revenues (though not its threat
capabilities), Israel finds itself with new, positive relations in the
Sunni Arab world, a deeper relationship with Russia on security matters,
and political hostility in Europe that has not yet manifested itself in
a lowering of security cooperation. Israel's place in NATO's
Mediterranean Dialogue appears secure, despite the increasingly hostile
relations with Turkey--which are also a reflection of Turkey's
increasingly hostile relations with the rest of NATO.

The United States is Israel's ally of first choice. And Israel
remains the one country the United States can rely on to defend itself
by itself and in coordination with American interests.

But Why?

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks believes it has to do with the unique
nature of our two societies, starting with the Jewish people's
demand of the prophet Samuel to have a king. God told Samuel to explain
what having a king would mean, and if the Israelites still wanted one,
to give them one. Rabbi Sacks:

What happened in the days of the
Prophet Samuel is a social contract,
exactly on the lines set out by
Thomas Hobbes in "The Leviathan."
People are willing to give up certain
of their rights, transfer them to a
central power, a king, a government,
who undertakes to ensure the rule of
law internally and the defense of the
realm externally.
In fact, One Samuel, Chapter Eight
is the first recorded instance in all of
history of a social contract.
But what makes the Hebrew Bible
unique ... and makes it completely
different from Hobbes and Locke and
Jean-Jacques Rousseau is that this
wasn't the first founding moment of
Israel as a nation, as a political entity.
That took place at Mount Sinai
when the people made with God not
a contract but a covenant. And those
two things are often confused, but actually
they're quite different.
In a contract, two or more people
come together to make an exchange ... which
is to the benefit of the
self-interest of each.
A covenant isn't like that. It's more
like a marriage than an exchange ... A
covenant isn't about me, the voter,
or me, the consumer, but about
all of us together. Or in that lovely
key phrase of American politics, it's
about "We, the people."
Biblical Israel had a society long before
it had a state ... And there is only
one nation known to me that had
the same dual founding as biblical
Israel, and that is the United States
of America which has its social covenant
in the Declaration of Independence
in 1776 and its social contract
in the Constitution in 1787.
Covenant is central to the Mayflower
Compact of 1620. It is central to the
speech of John Winthrop aboard the
Arbela in 1630. It is presupposed in
the most famous line of the Declaration
of Independence ... "We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal and endowed
by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights."
They are self-evident only to people
who have internalized the Hebrew
Bible.

End, Rabbi Sacks.

That is the center of America's security relationship with
Israel--the notion that our two countries have the same founding
principles, the same respect for the social contract and for the social
covenant. I have taken more than 400 American security
professionals--primarily retired American admirals and generals --to
Israel in more than 30 trips. And at the other end of their careers, I
have sent more than 500 cadets and midshipmen of our service academies
to Israel before they received their commissions. And I can say that
they all understood the fundamental and profound principles that guide
both the United States and Israel.

They don't always agree with Israel's politics--or
Israel's defense choices--or any other single aspect of Israeli
political, military and social life, but I never found one that
didn't believe in the relationship between Jews and the land of
Israel, and between Israel and the United States.

The Practical Relationship

Starting there--and you have to start there--you quickly reach the
practical aspects of our partnership. Those haven't changed since
1979, when I first published a "quick reference guide" to
security cooperation. Israel brings to the party:

* A secure location in a crucial part of the world

* A well-developed military infrastructure

* The ability to maintain, service, and repair U.S.-origin
equipment

* An excellent deep-water port in Haifa

* Modern air facilities

* A position close to sea-lanes and ability to project power over
long distances

* A domestic air force larger than many in Western Europe and
possessing more up-to-date hardware

* Multilingual capabilities, including facility in English, Arabic,
French, Farsi and the languages of the (former) Soviet Union

* Combat familiarity with Soviet/Russian style tactics and
equipment

* The ability to assist U.S. naval fleets, including common
equipment

* The ability to support American operations and to provide
emergency air cover

* A democratic political system with a strong orientation to
support the United States and the NATO system.

Added in 1996: Israel's military R&D capabilities
complement those of the U.S.; its intelligence services cooperate
closely with ours--to our benefit; and large numbers of American troops
train in Israel.

Added in 2006: The establishment of police-to-police
counterterrorism training in Israel. Can you imagine the American police
learning tactics from Saudi Arabia, China or Venezuela?

The Practical Result

In 1967, in the 1970 War of Attrition, in 1973, and over Lebanon in
1982, Israel fought pro-Soviet forces and provided intelligence
information and Russian equipment to the U.S. Most of the equipment had
never been inspected close-up by American troops that then expected to
face them in battle.

It was the aftermath of Israel's Yom Kippur war that led to
the American "combined arms doctrine" that was so successfully
deployed in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990/1991.

In 1981, Israel's bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at
Osirak meant the U.S. knew it wouldn't be facing a nuclear-armed
Iraq in 1991.

After 9-11, Israel "opened the closets" for the U.S.,
supplying battle-tested experience in combating terrorism and urban
warfare. Americans benefitted from Israel's tactics against car
bombs, IEDs and homicide bombing.

After the 2003 allied invasion of Iraq, American military personnel
were being introduced to Israel's bomb-sniffing dogs. The U.S.
wanted such dogs, but the training period is fairly long. The IDF was
willing to make Israeli dogs available, but they only took commands in
Hebrew. It was quicker to train the Marines than retrain the dogs,
making some interesting scenes in Baghdad

In September 2007, the IAF destroyed a Syrian-North Korean nuclear
plant, extending the U.S.'s strategic arm and providing vital
information on Russian air defense systems, which are also employed by
Iran.

In Today's World

Not a single American serviceperson needs to be stationed in
Israel. Aside from training missions, there have been American soldiers
stationed in Israel since 2009, working with the US-Israeli co-designed
X-band radar system--a deployment that helps the U.S. and Israel monitor
threats from the east.

And, as a reminder, Israel's missile defense
capabilities--developed and produced in conjunction with American
industry--not only protect Israel from Hamas and Hezbollah missiles, but
protect the United States from emerging threats from North Korea and
Iran. Various branches of the U.S. military have purchased a variety of
Israeli-developed systems and participated in joint development of
anti-tunnel defenses, the Arrow Missile Program, the F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter Plane, THEL Laser Program, the Advanced Urban Combat Training
Facility as well as Iron Dome.

After the 2014 Gaza War, during which Israel was roundly criticized
by the American administration for allegedly not taking proper
precautions to limit Palestinian civilian casualties, the Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey said:

Israel ... did some extraordinary
things to try to limit civilian casualties,
to include... making it known
that they were going to destroy a
particular structure. The IDF is not
interested in creating civilian casualties.
They're interested in stopping
the shooting of rockets and missiles
out of the Gaza Strip and into Israel.

General Dempsey surprised his audience --the Carnegie Council for
Ethics in International Affairs--by telling them he had already sent an
American delegation to Israel to learn lessons from the IDF,
"including," he said, "the measures they took to prevent
civilian casualties."

Israel has been a partner in U.S. and multi-lateral military
exercises for years--interestingly, most recently there was an exercise
in which Israel and the UAE flew together, signaling a change in
Israel's relations with Persian Gulf countries.

Late last year, Israel hosted the largest aerial training exercise
in its history --Blue Flag, in the Negev Desert. Seventy foreign
aircraft from around the world, hundreds of pilots and air support team
members. Participants included the United States, France, Italy, Greece,
Poland, Germany, and India. It was the first time French, German and
Indian contingents have trained in Israel.

And if you thought you would ever see the Luftwaffe flying in
Israel, you have a better imagination than I do.

Reciprocally, this year Israel participated in US-EUCOM's
Spirit X exercise in Germany with nearly 4,400 American and European
troops.

Conclusion

Israel and the United States are drawn together by common values
and common threats to our well-being. The bipartisan support of our ally
Israel is a testament to those values as well as to the practical
recognition that the threats require cooperation in intelligence,
technology, and security policy.

We have that with Israel. But more than that, the United States and
Israel share an intimate understanding of nationhood. The British--our
other best friends in the world--can't say that rights are
inalienable and come from The Creator. For the British, rights came from
the earthly King or Queen, and only those rights the sovereign chose to
give--which is why we had a Revolution.

SHOSHANA BRYEN is Senior Director of The Jewish Policy Center and
Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly.

Caption: An allied fighter jet taxis out to the runway during Blue
Flag, a multilateral exercise hosted by the Israeli Air Force in 2017.
(Photo: IDF)

Caption: U.S. Soldiers with the 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment
and Israeli soldiers during Austere Challenge 2012 in Hazor, Israel.
(Photo: SSgt Tyler Placie/ U.S. Department of Defense)

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